Life is complicated

Chapter 1: moving on

WARNING, FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PLAYED GRAND THEFT AUTO 4, THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Alright, for those of you who have played Grand Theft Auto 4 by Rockstar, as you know, there are two different endings to the game depending on your choice.

Ending 1: Niko takes revenge, Kate dies, Roman lives, and Jimmy Pegorino is killed on Happiness Island.

Ending 2: Niko takes the deal, Roman dies, and Dimitri Rascalov is killed on Happiness Island.

Anyway, I'll cut to the chase; this story is based after the revenge ending and will mainly be focused around Niko Bellic and how he tries to cope with the loss of Kate as he feels like it was his fault. I did notice a lot of stories on the Grand Theft Auto very short and not even finished. But I, on the other hand will finish and not just write around eighty words and leave it at that.

Also, here are my choices from the games that may be important in this story just so you know.

I let Ivan Bytchkov live by saving him in "Ivan The Not So Terrible".

I let Cherise Glover live by sparing her in "Ruff Rider".

I let Dwayne Forge live and killed Playboy X in "The Holland Play."

I let Clarence Little live by sparing him in "Holland Nights".

I let Derek McReary live and killed Francis McReary in "Blood Brothers".

I let Darko Brevic live in "That Special Someone".

And there are a couple more you can let live like that Unnamed Russian guy in "Portrait of a Killer" and the Unnamed Old Jewish Mobster in "Late Checkout".

Long-story-short, I talk too much (hence one of my many nicknames "Deadpool"). Enjoy chapter 1, ladies and gentleman.

Niko Bellic; the thirty-year-old criminal and former ex-marine from Serbia had finally taken his revenge on those who wronged him in the past. Dimitri Rascalov, a man who he once called his friend was the first, and shortly afterwards, he took revenge on Jimmy Pegorino, another man he use to work for and was responsible for taking away the one person who had feelings for. It was finally over, but the memories of those tragic events would forever haunt him in his dreams.

It had been one-week since the events of Happiness Island, and since then, Niko was unable to put his past behind him and move on with his life. All he had left now was his cousin Roman and Roman's wife Mallorie Bardas-Bellic, whom was now pregnant according to Roman.

Niko had done a lot of bad things in his life. He murdered people, smuggled people, sold people, and even put his own family in danger more times than he could count. He came to Liberty City weeks ago in hopes of living a new life here and putting behind the past; but instead, it was like the past had just followed him all the way to this city. Was there ever going to be a peaceful life for him?

The present day, Niko was currently resting in his Penthouse on Xeno St and Galveston Ave in North Holland, Algonquin that use to be owned by Trey "Playboy X" Stewart, but ever since Niko had killed him, Playboy's former best friend Dwayne Forge had given this apartment to Niko as a gift for saving his life and for making him realize he still had a purpose in life.

As for his other apartment in Albany Ave and Purite St, Middle Park East, Algonquin, Niko had moved out from that apartment for Roman and Mallorie to move in together. After all, with them having a baby on the way, they were going to need the space and privacy.

Niko lazily sat against the long family couch, wearing a striped knit sweater and a pair of black and yellow track pants with no shows on, flicking through the various TV channels on his wide-screen TV that seemed to be boring him. He finally switched off the TV, finally losing interest in these channels. "Shitty TV. Nothing ever good on." he mumbled to himself.

He stood up from his lazy position and made his way over towards the small kitchen in the corner of his apartment. He opened up the fridge for some alcohol, but as luck would have it, there was only milk and juice for him to drink. When was the last time he went shopping?

"I need to do some shopping." Niko admitted, picking up the orange juice cartoon and reading the label on the back. ""Best before 2006". Fuck me." he placed the orange juice back inside the fridge, followed by closing its door behind him.

With nothing to drink, Niko collapsed down onto the center of his bed, spreading out his arms and legs like a star fish as his head hit the pillow. He tried ever so much to forget that tragic event, but the memory of his girlfriend dying in his arms would forever haunt him.

To make things worse, how was his friend Patrick (or "Packie" as he liked to be called) would even be able to still be his friend after all this? First his brother Francis died and was unaware it was Niko who murdered him, then his brother Gerald has been put in prison, and now with Kate dying too, it was just him, Derek and his mother left. How Gerald was going to react about his sister's death was a day Niko was not looking forward to.

Before long, Niko's cell phone that was resting under his pillow began to ring. He retrieved the item and held the phone up against his ear, not bothering to check who was ringing him. "Hello?"

"Niko, it's Roman." Roman spoke on the other end of the phone, speaking in a normal tone unlike his usually enthusiastic self. "I just came to check up on you."

"I'm fine." Niko assured, but deep down, this was all lie and he was nowhere near fine. "How are you and Mallorie enjoying married life?"

"It's good. A little hard when someone fires a weapon at your wedding, but okay." Roman assured. "Niko, I know how you felt about Kate, but you have to know that you can't blame yourself for what happened."

"There is no-one else but me to blame, Roman." Niko replied, holding his free arm over his forehead for a moment when he felt a slight headache. "It's my entire fault. If I had just listened to you and done that deal, then she would have lived...I shouldn't have got close to her...I shouldn't really get close to anyone anymore."

"You should, Niko, connection is important. Me and Mallorie are your family." Roman reminded him, but had some interesting news that he yet had to announce. "Niko...Mallorie is pregnant. We decided if it's a boy, we'll name it after me. And if it's a girl, we decided to call her Kate."

Niko was touched by the fact his cousin would want to honor the name of a girl he barely knew. He managed to raise a slight smile, knowing Roman was going to be great when it came to parenthood. "Congratulations to you both. You will make a good father, Roman. See you soon."

"Bye, Niko. See you soon..." with that, Roman hung up on his end of the line.

Niko placed his cell phone under his pillow but not before checking the time. It was now 11:34 PM. How time had slipped away from him that fast was a mystery, but nevertheless, Niko needed to get some sleep. He hoped one day he could finally retire from this life of crime, and maybe, just maybe, live the American dream like he always wanted.

Niko's eyes widened as the sound of his cell phone ringing had woken him up during early morning. He groaned for a moment whilst searching under the pillows for the location of his phone. He eventually retrieved his cell phone and held it up against his ear. "Hello...?"

"What up, rasta, is me, Jacob." Jacob spoke on the other end of the line. "You doin' okay after the whole nuttin incident on the island and ting?"

"Yeah, I'm doing fine, thanks, Jacob." Niko assured, standing up as he walked his way over towards the wardrobe to put on some fresh clothes. "And thanks for the help though. If it weren't for you, I might not have ever caught up to Pegorino without your help."

"Sean, we brothers gotta look out for one and other." Jacob assured. "I and Roman are planning a night out in a couple of days. He wanted me to know if you are rolling along and ting?"

Niko thought about his offer for a moment before giving him an answer. He did want to move on with his life and finally leave this apartment for a while, and after all, at least he would be with the people he liked. "Sure. Could do with something to do for a while."

"A'ight, I and Roman will see you this Friday." Jacob replied but before long, he hung up the phone on the other end. "One love, rasta."

As the call on the other end finished, Niko's phone beeped a second time but it was not a phone call and rather a text message. He clicked on the received message, and as luck would have it, it just happened to be his cousin.

"Hey NB, mind dropping by the apartment? Need help.

-Roman."

"Anything to get out of this apartment." Niko told himself, throwing his cell phone back onto the bed as he proceeded to put on a change of clothes. He took of his previous clothes and dressed himself up in a gray golf jacket, a pair of blue jeans, and some white tennis shoes. The second he was dressed, he picked up his cell phone and was about to take his pistol with him, too, but all it would do would make him look more of a bad person and give him further memories of that tragic event. He left his gun under his bed and proceeded downstairs via the elevator. When he was outside, he got into his own car for once that he brought with the money he earned rather than steal any random car to get to places.

He got into his Albany black Emperor and even decided to turn on the radio to help pass the time as he proceeded to drive to Middle Park and visit his cousin and his now cousin-in-law Mallorie.

Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in this town
See me and the boys we don't like it

So were getting up and going down
Hiding low looking right to left
If you see us coming I think it's best
To move away do you hear what I say

Niko was never one to enjoy listening to music and usually preferred silence when driving, but with the events that have happened, could he really ask himself for peace after everything that happened? Let's face it, every day he hears gun fire and the sounds of people screaming upon being shot and murdered.

From under my breath
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak

When he had to stop the car for moment when reaching a red traffic light, Niko took this chance to think back on all that has happened to him. He spent his life being beaten by his alcoholic father, he was forced to watch his friends die in a war, he spent ten-years hunting down the one who he though was responsible for his squadron's death, but was mistaken and got the wrong target.

So don't you be around
Don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna be trouble
Some of us won't survive

See the boys and me mean business
Bustin' out dead or alive
I can hear the hound dogs on my trail
All hell breaks loose, alarm and sirens wail

And even when Niko finally tracked down Darko and discovered the truth to why he killed his friends, he could not bring himself to kill him. He wanted nothing more than to put twelve bullets in him for the twelve lives he cost, but he stopped. He did not choose to kill him. Darko was deviated towards his actions and wanted nothing more but to die from the hands of someone he once called his friend.

Like the game if you lose
Go to jail
Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
Somewhere in the town

...But he stopped. Niko did not need to go to the level; despite the fact how much he wanted it. It was unknown if he stopped because his cousin told him it was the right thing to do, or because it would not give him the closure he desired for.

Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak
So don't you be around
Tonight there's gonna trouble
I'm gonna find myself i-

Niko dazed out from his thoughts when his radio had suddenly cut out. He pressed the button a couple of times in an attempt to turn his song back on, but the radio was not working. "Fucking piece of shit radio!" he groaned in frustration. Without any music, he continued making his way to Roman's apartment when traffic had begun moving again.

Whilst continuing his drive, he turned to his right for a moment when seeing a fight between two men outside on the streets. Both of them were engaged in a fist fight, and this caused Niko to sigh. "Is there any place in this city that is not dangerous?"

Since it had nothing to do with him, Niko left it for the police to handle when a cop car had arrived, but not that it would do any good since half the cops in this city were fat and were not the best when it came to chasing people on foot. Heck, the police were almost as worse as the criminals in this city.

It took Niko around twenty-minutes to make it to Middle Park due to the traffic, but he almost made it Roman's apartment but still had one more traffic light to pass. As he waited, he looked out of his window to the car next to him that was a black Cavalcade and inside, three men were present.

Each three of them looked Dominican-American, but he mainly had his attention focused on the man in the driver's seat. He wore a black and white letterman jacket with white undersweater, and he could have sworn he recognized this man before, but he could not put a finger on where they met before.

As for the other two passengers, one of them wore a red hoodie with a black vest over it and a black t-shirt. And the other one worse a grey letterman jacket with a blue t-shirt. They did not seem so familiar to Niko, but he still had his interest on the driver, but due to the shadow windows, he could not make out his face so clearly. Before he had the chance the figure out who he was, the car had drove away, followed by a horn beeping behind Niko.

"It's green, buddy!" the man in a taxi cab behind him called out, beeping his horn a second time.

Niko merely groaned in response as he pressed his foot against the paddle, making his way down the street. He finally arrived just outside of Roman's apartment and pulled up alongside the street and exited his vehicle, locking it behind him with his car keys. He sure hoped no-one was going to steal his vehicle while he was inside.

He moved inside via the door and headed towards the elevator on the far left of the room. He waited patiently waited for the elevator to arrive, folding his arms together in the process.

"Roman better not have called me here to help with his gambling problems." Niko spoke to himself, remembering the last time he had to rescue his cousin from his gambling debts and it sure did not end well.

And here is chapter 1, ladies and gentleman. Little short, I know, but I guarantee the next chapter will be longer. And for those you like action, I can assure you this story will have action in it like the game. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and feel free to leave a review on what you thought. I may not update everyday since I have a Walking Dead story to finish, but I have to put in on hold while I wait for the next episodes to be released.

Anywho, stay tuned for chapter 2.